Preston's targetman is aiming to be back to face Charlton at Deepdale after missing five matches with a painful bout of sciatica.

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Brown had an injection yesterday in a bid to cure the problem and has been ordered to have three days' complete rest.

Manager Alan Irvine is keeping his fingers crossed the 23-year-old will be able to start training as early as Monday and be available for selection by the weekend.

He told the Evening Post: "Chris went to see a consultant on Wednesday and it was confirmed it is a sciatica problem which we are hoping can be helped by an injection.

"Hopefully the jab will do the trick and he will be joining in training fairly soon afterwards.

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"He has been told to have three days of doing nothing and then, if he is okay, he can start to build up.

"I suppose there is a very outside chance he could be back in time for the Carling Cup tie against Derby on Tuesday.

"But he hasn't trained fully for a while so that would be very unlikely.
"Let's see how he is. But it will be good to get him back in the fold."

Brown was one of the heroes of last season's great escape.

When he joined in a £400,000 deal from Norwich, Preston were rock bottom in the table.

But he was at the heart of some battling displays which lifted the club out of the drop zone to a respectable mid-table finish.

The former Premier League player with Sunderland will be keen to face Charlton next weekend after his two-goal salvo against the Addicks at The Valley in March, arguably his best game for PNE.

Neal Trotman (pictured) is said to be 'making progress' as he continues his rehabilitation after a hernia operation.

"He is in the early stages of his running and things are looking a bit better," said Irvine. "He is looking as if he is making progress."

But keeper Wayne Henderson, who is exactly a year on from suffering the back injury which wrecked his season, has suffered a minor setback after stepping up his training.

The Republic of Ireland international had resumed work with the other
keepers, but complained of soreness afterwards.

Irvine said: "He just had a bit of a reaction.

"He stepped things up a bit this week and did two sessions with the
goalkeepers.

"But it is still very encouraging, still a big step forward for him.

"He will be delighted he has been able to get back in with the other keepers.

"We hope that it was simply a case of him feeling a bit stiff and sore because of the work."